hi, everyone, "news nation" is following developing news this hour. for first time the u.s. supreme court will rule on whether for profit companies have religious freedom of the a challenge against president obama's health care law. the justices will consider if the law's requirement that employers offer free birth control coverage for employees violates a company's religious freedom. the white house has now responded with a statement saying in part, as a general matter, our policy is designed to ensure that health care decisions are made between a woman and her doctor. the president believes that no one, including the government, or for profit corporations to be able to dictate those decisions to women. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins us with more. pete, the comparisons to citizens united.

>> reporter: rig >> in which the supreme court said that private corporations for profit corporations do have free speech rights when it comes to running campaign ads, now the court has to decide a different question, do the same companies have a freedom of religion. the lower courts are split on this. the tenth circuit court of appeals said yes, it ruled in favor of a company called hobby lobby, owned by a religious family in oklahoma. they say providing con tra septemberive care would violate their religious freedom because it would constitute abortion. other courts of appeals have said no and said the individual family members ruling in the case of one of the supreme court took it, a woodworking company in pennsylvania owned by a family of men nights. the supreme court said the individuals can't claim who own the company can't tell their religious freedoms are violated because it's the corporation that has to pay the cost of the health care benefits not the

individual. the supreme court will look at both questions, do for profit corporations have the right to claim that a law would violate their freedom, it's something the supreme court never looked at before. can the individuals who own the company make that claim? they'll look at both issues. >> the other question i heard you talk about it this morning, how far does this go? can a company owned by a religious family say my religion believes same-sex marriage or being gay is against religion and thus does that open up the door for further discrimination? >> that's always been the challenge for the supreme court whenever it looks at the corporations because if you look at the case law, corporations don't have all of the constitutional rights that individuals do. but they do have some. when you decide which ones they

have, how do you draw limits around that? could a corporation say, we're not going to serve muslims, that violates our religious beliefs. how can you control all of the various ways that this could grow? >> and quickly, as well, pete, part of the white house statement that was released a short time ago went on to say, the administration is already acted to ensure no church or similar religious institution will be forced to provide contraception coverage and made a common sense accommodation for non-profit religious organizations that object. we saw that back and forth early on. religious leaders stay soft with the obama administration regarding people who work for churches. >> there are still lawsuits pending in the lower courts on how far that goes, how far from a pure church or church affiliated organization do you have to get before you lose that privilege of being exempt from

the law. this is a wholly different question, entirely different question about when it applies to for profit corporations. >> this is entirely different. >> right. fact and puns from pete williams, thank you very much. let's bring in the steen yor staff attorney for the acla and former health insurance executive officer wendell potter. hobby lobby would pay approximately 1.3 million a day for obama care or the affordable care act for its employees if this would go through, certainly not saying this is motivation here but money is a part of some of the objection from companies and here you have this rare objection from a corporation based on its religion. >> well, i believe that money

would be if the -- if the company decided to pay the fine and that's where the money that money would come into it. but i think even if the court sides with hobby lobby, it would not be a crippling blow to the affordable care act. it would further person fi corporations and where do you begin to draw the line? it also would be discriminatory in my view against women and in particular, women who might not make it much money and work for these corporations would be left on their own to be able to have to buy contraception. >> bridge it, let's talk about that. some of the reaction already from the aclu goes beyond women and the issue of where does this go and we've heard that uttered before, what are people able to do based on religion as a company? >> putting aside the threshold

question whether a corporation can exercise religious liberty. the next question, if you ask exercisery lidgeous liberty, do you get to impose them on others to deny them benefits and services and that's exactly what they are trying to do here. we think that's a dangerous precedent and quite detrimental to female employees. >> the other companies, conestoga owned by a mennonite family. it says the government should not be able to punish americans for exercising their fundamental freedoms. that was their senior counsel. the administration has no business forcing citizens to choose between making a living and living free. we trust the supreme court will agree. a government that forces any citizen to participate in immoral acts like the use of abortion drugs is a government everyone should fear. your reaction to that? >> i think that the corporations

here are setting up a false choice. corporations all the time give their employees benefits that the employees may then use, including salary, that those may use to obtain services or do something that the company doesn't like. it doesn't mean that the company gets to impose the religious beliefs on their employees to essentially discriminate against their female employees. we have set limits in this country to say that employees should not be discriminated based on gender. that's exactly what would happen here if the corporations were allowed to get out from underneath this rule. >> wendell, it is not something that directly of course, involves the insurance industry, but again, it does hover another issue over the implementation of the president's health care law. >> it would. >> it hovers over it again. >> it would. it would complicate the insurance company's ability to administer the benefits and

require them to take those kind of cases into consideration. it would be a burden for them and more costly as well. >> more to the statement released also just a short time ago, planted parenthood executive, the ruling will open the door to businesses denying coverage based on their owner's personal beliefs for a whole host of other medical procedures, which their employees are entitled. and wendell, there are people, who for example brought up the issue of blood transfusion. and other issues that other medical procedures that may be seen as one religion as a tab boo or something against their faith. this is not just about contraception. >> that's absolutely right. if you start here and allow corporations to exclude contraception because of religious beliefs, where does it end? there may be companies like

gentlemen ho gentlem jevofah's witnesses like you mentioned. and setting up a dangerous precedent. >> do you believe any of the ceos or companies will delve into this knowing they are a part of the health care process and this journey that our country is going through and providing affordable health care? >> i would say probably will stay clear of this. they might file a brief with the court. i kind of doubt it. they would prefer to not have to worry about this because the -- it is something insurance companies have done for many years and they prefer to keep it that way. >> thank you both. as well. thank you very much. >> we're following severe weather now lashing the east coast on the eve of one of the busiest travel days of the year. right now winter weather advisories and warnings up in

two dozen states from georgia to northern vermont. delays and cancellations are piling up for the estimated 43 million people planning to travel for the holiday. high winds and low clouds are expected to affect flights through wednesday afternoon. at some of the nation's busiest airports including atlanta, new york, baltimore and washington. within the last hour, nearly 100 flights have been canceled across the country and 1600 delayed according to flight stats.com. some airlines have pret emively started waiving fees to change fees and all carriers are warning flyers to check flights before leaving out. >> we were hoping we could catch the window, especially chicago, you know, what you're going to be in for. >> all it takes is a delay at a couple major airports and the

whole country can be affected. >> overnight the storm system left parts of virginia and georgia and north carolina covered in ice. by tomorrow, parts of pennsylvania and upstate new york are expected to be covered in up to 18 inches of snow. freezing rain and strong thunderstorms. the weather channel's paul good low joins me now. from reading all of this, a lot of people are trying to get out today, man, crazy. >> it's going to be okay, though, the airlines trying to hopefully reschedule people when they have snow. it's going to mainly like like you mentioned, western pa, we have wind and rain through the weather. this is a pretty dynamic winter storm and even before thanksgiving. hopefully this is what's going to happen for the rest of the winter. we're three and a half, four weeks from the official start of winter and we have severe weather with it, in the florida panhand panhandle, four reports of

tornadoes and thunderstorms rolling into southern georgia. atlanta, rain for you and rain across much of eastern tennessee. the key here is the temperatures, temperatures have been just above freezing. you can deal with that but really concerned about central new york where the cold air can be falling. you see the purple, that's freezing rain. you cannot travel on. you can see temperatures right now in the mid to low 30s but definitely this part of central new york and central pa, more rain and thunderstorms today across the southeast, pushing on towards the mid-atlantic. d.c., mainly rain for you and new york for tomorrow, winds kick up as well. boston, dealing with rain into new england. there's the icy swath here and back towards western pa. western parts of new york, that's the snow you talked about tamron. some areas a foot to foot and a half, wouldn't be shocked to see 2-foot totals. the good news for travelers, i-95 is all rain from new york

past d.c. this is through wednesday. it tapers off and it really gets cold and windy for thursday and go for the macy's thanksgiving day parade, the floats might not make it because gusty -- balloons may not make it but the parade should go on. the snow should be well away from major cities. good news for travelers but it's going to feel like winter. a lot of folks dealing with a white thanksgiving. >> it's one of those things, if you have to drive, your parents tell you, take your time, it will be there. especially people driving far distances. joining us now, gabe gutierrez joining us from hartsfield-jacks hartsfield-jackson. the rain, every shot i've seen, constant rain and constant flow of people behind you. >> well, tell you what, tamron, there has been a constant stream of rain all day. temperatures hovered in the

upper 30s or so. throughout the morning, we haven't seen a ton of cancellations or delays here at hartsfield. that may be starting to change. there were hundreds of dfw yesterday. the storm really made a mess throughout the united states over the past couple of days. over the weekend, it's starting to move through texas and oklahoma and 11 deaths blamed on this storm. at least in the air right now, flight aware.com. they have an app entitled misery map. and you're starting to see more red creep up. we're starting to see delays averaging 25 in atlanta and also d.c. airport. definitely something to watch as the storm system moves out of the southeast. right now it's dumping rain, expected to drop a lot of snow in the northeast tomorrow as you said, tamron, one of the busiest travel days of the year. >> very mention of the misery

map, is not good. all right. thanks very much. >> still ahead, a connecticut judge says he'll decide in the coming days whether to release the 911 tapes from the sandy hook massacre. the day after the official report sheds disturbing new details on the life of the gunman adam lanza. coming up, michael will join me with what he believes is a situation many parents are dealing with. plus -- >> let me finish. >> stop deportation. >> let me finish. no, let -- he can stay there. >> president obama stopped secret service from removing hecklers who interrupted his speech demanding that he stop dod deportati deportation, we'll look at how he's handling it. and joining our conversation, go to my twitter page and my team

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a connecticut judge will decide in the coming days if the 911 calls made from sandy hook elementary school the morning of a massacre will be made public. the state freedom of information commission ruled in september that the calls be released but prosecutor responsible for investigating the mass shooting appealed that ruling. meantime, we have the most comprehensive report yet on the tragedy that took the lives of 20 children and six adults in newtown, connecticut. rehema ellis is here with details. rehema, we see -- we're taken inside this family's home. >> we absolutely are and it is

chilling what you find out. the report by the connecticut department of criminal justice gives a moment by moment account of the shooting and the detailed look at the troubled life of gunman adam lanza, the only question it doesn't answer is why. >> the report gives the best insight into the 20-year-old man who perpetrated the worst school shooting in american history. it confirms adam lanza acted alone, the entire horrific event overwith in five minutes ending with the gunman's suicide. according to the report, lanza blasted his way into the school with his bush master rifle, a walking arsenal, two pistols and fired 154, more than 300 rounds of ammunition he carried. inside his home, investigators found his first victim, his mother nancy shot in her bed with a rifle. the report states that lanza had significant mental health issues that affected his ability to live a normal life and interact

with others. lanza didn't leave his home for three months prior to the shooting. his room revealed garbage bags taped over window and preof course with mass murders and school shootings in particular. lanza refused to take his prescribed medication and therapy. he was eventually home schooled. according to the report, lanza's mother was concerned about him. he would only communicate with her by e-mail thousand they were living in the same house. yet the report goes on to say nancy lanza was planning to buy her son a new pistol for christmas, even her son disliked christmas and refused to let her put up a tree. joe russo lost his daughter lauren. she was one of six adults killed along with 20 children. he's read most of the report and

refus re -- >> she stood there in front of 15 little kids and took the bullet, that is amazing. i'm very proud of her. >> and rehema, we just got this in just quickly, the recordings that we mentioned, the 911 calls, they will be -- the tapes will remain sealed until december 4th to give prosecutors a chance to appeal. but at this point, a judge ordered the release and tapes will not be immediately unsealed so this information just in to us. >> that's probably a comfort to many of the families in the community who do not want the tapes released and even if they are released they are not going to look -- >> yesterday, we were talking thinking about details of this report being released and the pain and the 1 year anniversary and see families going through it over and over again. >> so many of them did not wants

to talk -- how much she protected the children. >> let me bring in michael smerconish, msnbc contributor and to the point rehema has made, the families want to focus on the love shared with that person who was no longer with them, that child or that sibling who is no longer with them. michael, there are other questions we're looking at details and knowing that adam lan lanza's mother written out a check to purchase a gun for him, that they only communicated via e-mail, this person had an isolated life and his parents either was unwilling to do something or did not know what to do, michael. >> well, he was clearly troubled. let me state the obvious, mom should not have been purchasing weapons nor contemplating a

christmas gift that was yet another firearm for him. i read that report, and a lot of folks say it doesn't answer the why question, why did he do this? what most intrigues me about it and i have quite a conversation on radio today with a lot of folks who feel similarly, this case speaks to the difficulty faced by family members, and parents in particular, who have ahe i troubled young adult with no history of violence. they don't have something in particular that suggests they'll be violent, but they know they are troubled. they can't compel them to get medical treatment because they reached majority status. they are adults and yet something is not right. and how to go about that risk assessment, that risk analysis and get them into treatment, that's the real issue that seems to me we need to try to resolve. >> and i agree that i can't even imagine being in a situation of having a child and having to determine what to do in this situation where there's clearly an issue of mental health.

for me and i talked to a lot of people as well, the disturbing part or confusing part -- the why, i guess for me is why have those guns in the house? why have a gun locker in his room? set aside the video games and people debate these all the time, but you have a child whose windows are blacked out, who has isolated himself from the world but yet he has a gun locker and guns available, ammunition, all around the house. to me that's a separate discussion on what to do with him, whether you seek help with a regular therapist or allow for him to go to a facility. the question of these guns in the home and knowing what her child was dealing with is something that she can't answer. she's dead. but i think is a why. >> well, look, in retrospect, you assemble all of the evidence contained in the 50 or so page report and come to the

conclusion, mom should have done something. mom should have caused an intervention, mom paid with her life we can say by virt tu of the fact she didn't intervene in this case. tamron, i think you would be taken aback by how many telephone calls i received today from people weighing in and saying, i have a troubled son or niece or nephew who doesn't have access to weapons and doesn't have a history of violence, but you look at a case like this and i think everybody wants to read the tea leaves and see, are there signs we should all be paying attention to. mental health is an issue which in combination with the firearms makes it lethal. >> absolutely. i would not be surprised by the number of people that you call that have done a lot of volunteer work and especially parents struggle orn what to do. you look at the statistics for kids who go off to college for the first time and suffer with depression and other far more serious issues. they are away from their parents and struggling in college.

then something awful happens. yeah, i totally understand what people are saying what they call and say it adds to the complexity of what happened in newtown and every day in life. >> have a great thanksgiving if i don't speak to you. >> thanks a lot. >> still ahead, philadelphia's mayor says he's now working to keep the so-called knockout game attacks from spreading to his city. some are calling the attacks, nothing more than a urban myth. one writer says it is america's latest quote phony panic. i will talk with him next. retirement plan. i started part-time, now i'm a manager. my employer matches my charitable giving. really. i get bonuses even working part-time. where i work, over 400 people are promoted every day. healthcare starting under $40 a month. i got education benefits. i work at walmart. i'm a pharmacist. sales associate. i manage produce. i work in logistics. there's more to walmart than you think. vo: opportunity. that's the real walmart.

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an assault is an assault. law enforcement officials are also reluctant to say this incident add up to some type of trend. the new york times quotes officials for such attacks have been reported that the game amounted to little more than an urban myth, that the attacks in question might be nothing more than a sort of random assault that have always occurred. the daily beast agrees, he wrote, the new article, much like wilding before it, the furor over the knockout game bears the hall mark of an overgrown panic of a crime that doesn't exist. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> when i read your article, i was excited to talk to you about this. what is -- you say -- let me read what you said. the prospects of random assaults from rowdy aggressive teens is scary, especially if they are just one of attack.

as if we're living where our city under siege with violent young men. that's how you say the media is playing this out. >> when you look at the details you see incidents are similar from usual random saults that are common in cities. it's not hard at all to just like google search random search for a given city for a time frame, any time frame in fine print. so unless the knockout game had been going on for a decade, it makes me think this is actually just sort of a handful of kids and handful of places that they are playing knockout game which became a prospect that is scary, which became evidence of some

sort of trend that doesn't exist. >> you equate this to egs specially back in the 90s, early 2000s, where you hear of gang initiations are people are afraid if they ran into someone, based on how we're about to be a victim of a gang assault as was reported around the country. >> right, and i think what i say also is that none is of this is to say things like this do not happen. >> we know that in fact one of my producers was a victim of someone randomly punching him recently in new york. we know it happens. >> right, no one -- i don't think anyone is arguing that no one is randomly assaulted. the argument is that a couple of dozen random assaults spread out among a couple of cities, yearly reports isn't the trend. it would take far more for something to be a trend. so i think it's more of a

cautionary thing, let's be careful about inciting a panic when all we have is anecdotal evidence from a handful of cases. >> yes, but i always say, listen, anecdotal or handful until it's you and you're the person knocked out or attacked. we're trying to balance in reporting this and now you have proposed legislation, for example, in new york by one city council members who wants to see stiffer penalties if people are in fact carrying this out as some kind of challenge. when you look at the video, you do hear the kids giggling and egging each other on as if it is a competition or whatever. you're right, how do you determine when it is appropriate or when it is a phony panic? i think that's the dilemma here. >> right, i'm not sure. i think you might be able to say this is a real thing if you saw reports of -- i'm sure of large

numbers of changes organizing these things -- >> what about people reportedly killed as a result of these attacks? >> again, i'm not -- this is not to discount the fact that people are attacked and hurt and injured and sometimes killed. but the idea that what we're witnessing is a new thing, distinct from ordinary crime is -- you have to have a much higher burden -- much higher burden of proof for that. that would be true even if i myself were the victim of something like this. if i were a victim of a random attack, i don't -- it's still the case that it's an anecdote. as much as it's terrible for it to happen, it's still an anecdote. >> it's a very interesting article and factor into this conversation on an awful crime that is being committed and has been committed and several people have lost their lives as a result and one person has been charged with a hate crime after an incident here. thank you very much. very thought provoking article.

>> thank you. >> a dying wish granted. a federal judge clears the way for a lesbian couple to get married in chicago this week, months before the law takes effect. we'll take to one of the activi activist's make this dying wish happen. was better leverage. that's why he created his new magic eraser handy grip. it has a handle that firmly attaches to the eraser so you get better leverage and more oomph with less effort. it's the perfect magic eraser for making stuff that's big and tough not so tough, after all. mr. clean's handy grip -- the newest member of the magic eraser family. in all purpose and bath. [ engine revs ] it's not the "fumbling around with rotating categories" card. it's not the "getting blindsided by limits" card. it's the no-game-playing, no-earning-limit-having, deep-bomb-throwing, give-me-the-ball-and-i'll-take- it-to-the-house, cash back card.

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we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is. today to los angeles, in 30 minutes from now, the president will deliver remarks at dreamworks headed by long time supporter jeffrey catsen berg. yesterday at an immigration event packed by supporters, the president was interrupted by a heckler who asked him to take executive action to stop deportation. >> what i'd like to do -- no, don't worry about it. okay, let me finish. >> stop deportation. >> they don't need to go.

let me finish. no, let me -- he can stay there. let me -- >> joining me now live, peter alexander, traveling with the president, was there yesterday. peter, the president allowing the person who started the heckling to remain and few others joined in there. i think this is interesting these were people are invited seen as supporters, does this point to some of the battles the president has within his own party and within those who supported him with both elections? >> tamron, the white house feels strongly this emphasizes the point they are trying to make. the president made it clear if he had his way he would do this all by himself. he's done what he can on this issue and cakept the individual in the room to reinforce the point he's relying on congress to follow through with its needs and pursue the comprehensive

immigration. it's now in the house of representatives and said they would pursue a more piecemeal approach going forward. today when the president speaks a half hour from now, he's wrapping up a tour here at dreamworks with the ceo. there's a little star power, jim parsons of the big bang theory and steve martin, among those here greeting the president at the recording studio. he's also going through what they call motion picture capture, a process that they are using for how to train your dragon 2. it's not just about hollywood but the entertainment industry and economy in general. dreamworks in january of 2008 seen employment grow by 50%. the entertainment and this community specifically grown by 4,000 in the last month or month of october alone. >> all right, peter alexander live with this president traveling in the west coast tour there.

thank you very much, peter. >> well, now to an emotional ruling for a terminally ill woman and her partner who won't have to wait until illinois's new same-sex marriage law takes effect next summer to say i do. yesterday the u.s. district court in chicago ordered the cook countdy clerk to issue a license to 64-year-old gray and her partner, gray was first dying notiiagnosed with cancer and battling both bone and brain cancer. she and her partner have been together for five years. for the couple, a marriage means a chance to celebrate their relationship and also means certain legal protections should gray pass away. something that would not have been possible under a civil union. joining me now, marriage project director for the organization that filed a suit on behalf of the couple. thank you so much for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> obviously, i don't know who

could read this story in their hearts not go out to these two women. you read the details. they love each other. been together for all of these years. and now bernita gray, this is her last wish potentially. >> that's right. and in fact, i don't think there were -- there was any lawyer in court who didn't have tears in their eyes. all of us felt this very deeply and emotionally. there's something fitting that this couple should have their joy and this was a couple who devoted their lives to public service. a community volunteer in chicago, you probably one or both of them. she was a victim's advocate for state's attorney office. she was the shoulder that people would go to cry on if they were victims of hate crimes as their cases were going through the criminal justice system. they have really been a remarkable couple. and i -- it was very rewarding for all of us to be able to give

smem some releaf. >> her statement to the local statement, i'm so happy to get this news. i'm excited to be able to marry and take care of pat, my partner and my family should i pass. and that is the significant part of this. this is not just about her opportunity to say i do to someone you love, but this does provide legal protection to her spouse if she passes away. >> that's absolutely right. i think this case illustrates the cruelty of the almost 7-month wait until the marriage law becomes effective that was recently signed into law. with bernita and pat, the ability to marry meant the ability to confirm their commitment to each other. she proposed to pat in 2009 with a ring at christmas. so it's important for that because marriage is part of their values but it's also important because for couples in

a civil union as they are who are not legally married in the eyes of state law, if one predeceases the other they are subject to a federal estate tax and complications to get benefits and protection in the event of the death of a member of the couple. >> thank you so much for your time. this is a heart felt story and when you see their faces and this opportunity, we don't know how long bernita will be on the planet, we know at this moment she feels she's been treated justly and as a human equal to all of us. thank you so much, i appreciate your time. we'll be right back. how naughty was he? oh boy... [ male announcer ] fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex.

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hotel. i go up the elevator. it was a tense moment waiting outside that door and i didn't know if it was inside so the plan was to get in, get her stuff packed and get out fast. >> picture of abraham lincoln right here. >> that's a clip from a new msnbc series debuting this sunday which focuses on victims of the sex trade and getting them help. joining me now, aaron cohen. thanks for joining me. 27 million in modern day slavery across the world. that's despite legislation and legal attempts to help these people, including this month a bipartisan group of senators introducing a bill to crack down on human trafficking. these people are surrounded but that's what you're exposing. >> the thing is when people talk about slavery, they often think of it as something happening

over there in another country. >> far away. >> it's happening in new york, l.a., in america. it's the fastest growing legal business in america. >> how are these people able to get away with so much attention both through the media and laws? >> there's a lot of myths perpetuated in our country, the idea that prostitution is a victimless crime. this is a myth that has been dispelled by much research studies, north that from prostitution research.com did an exhaustive survey and found nine out of 10 would leave the life if they had an opportunity. >> they were taken at a young age or are young. they are not all adults and they are intimidated and threatened and feel they have no choice. >> that's right. the average age of entry into human trafficking in our country is 13 years old. the women enter, in a life of fear and of course we know from

stockholm syndrome, you develop this emotional bonding to the perpetrator of the abused and that is why so many women under pimp control in our country don't seek help. >> this is a series that debuts on msnbc this weekend. people should watch. we have this vision that this is happening far away and it is eye opening it is happening in many of our communities and right near us. >> thanks for having me. >> we'll be right back.

new jersey dana morales was expecting a tip after serving a family of four. instead she says she did not receive a tip because she's a lesbian. after she posted the receipt on facebook, the story blew up and do nations started to pour in. now the family that she served, they are disputing her story. >> reporter: it was a story that

made national headlines, dana morales claims a new jersey family denied her a tip earlier this month writing instead, i'm sorry, but i cannot tip because i did not agree with your lifestyle and how you live your life. now a couple who claims that was their bill says they did not write that message and they did leave a tip. wnbc interviewed the couple who asked their faces not be shown. they say their customer copy of the check proves morales version of the story doesn't add up. >> 100% you know that's your check. >> i can tell it's my name under the blacked out name. >> reporter: both copies of the check have the same date and time stamp but the totals are different. the couple left an $18 tip and even provided a credit card statement showing charges but morales is sticking with her story. >> it's possible you made this up because this isn't their handwriting and how they left

the check. >> that's not my handwriting, i don't know. again, i don't know. >> well, morales says she's donating most of the money she received in donations to the wounded warrior project. in a statement to wnbc, gallop restaurant is opening an internal investigation but in the meantime morales still works there. go to newsnation.msnbc.com. "the cycle" is up next. this de, experience the gift of true artistry and some of the best offers of the year at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection.

♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ ♪ and since we've no place to go let it snow ♪ >> i'm krystal ball and "the cycle" is all over breaking winter weather news. we knew it could be bad and that's exactly right. you're looking at what is

predicted up and down the east coast. if you're seen the graphics package, we're a fan of colors, but not in this particular instance. dangerous ice and wind. tornado watches and warnings down south. this system has it all and it could not come at a worse time. nearly 39 million americans are preparing to hit the roads for the thanksgiving holiday. only problem is, old man winter decided he's coming to dinner as well. if you know "the cycle", you also know we go big or go home. we've got you covered on any angle. gabe gutierrez is at hartsfield-jackson where we're seeing ground stops already. sara is in chicago, living up to its title of the windy city. let's start with you, gabe. >> we've been getting a lot of rain throughout the morning. a whole lot of rain. the good news is temperatures have been hovering about the upper 30s. no ice. throughout the morning we haven't seen